Reliance Jio to File Draft IPO Papers This Week

Reliance Jio could file a draft red herring prospectus within days, moving the long-awaited listing from plan to formal paperwork. The filing is expected shortly before Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani addresses shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting on Friday.

The draft document would formalize an initial public offering that has been discussed since 2019 and delayed several times. Reliance has said it aims to list Jio by the first half of 2026, subject to necessary approvals.

Reliance plans to structure the offering as an offer for sale, which means the company itself would not raise fresh capital. Instead, existing shareholders would sell part of their holdings to public investors while Reliance retains control of Jio. The sale is intended mainly to provide partial exits for investors that bought stakes in Jio Platforms in 2020, including Meta, Google, KKR and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

A person familiar with the plans put the total stake sale at 2.5% to 3%. That amount would translate to roughly 2.5% of Jio’s total equity being offered and could make the transaction worth about $4 billion, depending on final pricing.

Valuation estimates for Jio vary. Some banks have valued the company above $140 billion, with one estimate near $154 billion and another around $146 billion. More conservative valuations place Jio at about $121 billion to $123 billion. These differences reflect debate over Jio’s scale, its 5G rollout, growth in digital services and challenges on revenue per user.

A key commercial measure for investors is average revenue per user. Bharti Airtel’s ARPU has been around ₹257–₹259, while Jio’s ARPU was ₹214 in the March quarter. That gap will factor into investor decisions on pricing and the premium, if any, the market assigns to Jio shares.

India’s IPO market has seen lower volumes this year, and several companies have delayed listings amid volatile markets. Market participants and retail investors are watching the Jio filing for details on valuation, allocation and how much will be reserved for retail buyers.

At the August 2025 annual meeting, Mukesh Ambani told shareholders that Jio was making arrangements to file for its IPO and that the company was aiming for a listing in the first half of 2026, subject to approvals.